Harapan looks to woo outsation PD voters too

PD POLLS | Pakatan Harapan candidate Anwar Ibrahim may be facing six other opponents in the Port Dickson polls, but a bigger challenge perhaps lies in his ability to overcome the low turnouts seen in recent by-elections.

Anwar's campaign gurus, which are upbeat about his chances, have acknowledged that Pakatan Harapan needs to figure out how to address the declining turnouts.

This is of particular importance for a candidate of Anwar's stature, as he needs a respectable margin of victory – even if he is unlikely to match the majority PKR obtained in the general election due to the high turnout.

To add to the worry, PKR communications director Fahmi Fadzil estimated that between 20 to 30 percent of voters in Port Dickson are out of state.

However, he said efforts are in the works to bring them back on polling day to vote.

"I have received information from friends who are working to help voters living outside the constituency to come home and vote, and I believe they will be making their own announcements.

"It is an NGO effort and a good initiative to ensure a higher turnout," Fahmi told a press conference at the Harapan operations centre in Port Dickson this morning.

Fahmi (centre in photo) said he welcomed efforts by all quarters to bring back outstation voters.

"It doesn't matter which party they are from, as it is part of the democratic process," he said.

Fahmi declined to reveal which NGOs were trying to bring outstation voters back, but added that Harapan will also be will be organising their own efforts to get outstation voters to come home.

Turnouts dropped

Traditionally, Harapan's supporters tend to be younger voters who work outstation.

In the last general election, PKR's Danyal Balagopal Abdullah won the Port Dickson seat with a 17,710-vote majority. The turnout then was around 83.16 percent.

The turnouts for recent by-elections have plummeted, however, with only 49.8 percent voting in Sungai Kandis  on Aug 4, and only 43 percent and 44.1 percent of voters on casting their ballots on Aug 8 in Balakong and Seri Setia respectively.

Danyal vacated his seat to pave way for Anwar's bid to return to Parliament. Anwar's is also Harapan's chosen candidate to succeed Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad. - Mkini